Sebastian Vettel says tests of Ferrari’s latest upgrade package have been “successful” at the Red Bull Ring.
Ferrari introduced several new parts at Paul Ricard last week but removed a floor upgrade after running it on Friday. Vettel said further testing of the parts today has been positive.“We didn’t try [new] upgrades,” said Vettel. “We tried to, obviously, understand a little bit more what happened last weekend with the bits that we tried. And I think it was successful.
“At least, we were able to learn. And now we need to take the time that we need to understand what to address next.”
Vettel says there’s still scope to improve the car’s set-up on a track which was expected to play to the Ferrari’s strong straight-line speed. “We tried a bit of stuff in the afternoon, maybe it was a bit better in the morning.
“In terms of track layout it’s probably true maybe it helps us a bit. But still a tricky track. Very difficult to make much of a difference, it’s very short, so crucial to have a good feel in the car and that’s what we need to work on.”
Vettel’s team mate Charles Leclerc also believes the team are in stronger shape this weekend.
“In [second practice] the conditions were quite tricky, the wind changed quite a lot. But overall the car felt quite good so that’s positive. But I expect a stronger Mercedes tomorrow so it’s going to be very difficult to keep them behind, but we’ll do everything.
“I still believe we are a little bit behind [Mercedes]. We are definitely closer than we were in Paul Ricard but I still think we are behind.”
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 18:28
Some good news, finally? I sure hope so.
Milansson (@milansson)
28th June 2019, 18:42
@phylyp
Yeah, would be good to have a good battle again. Let’s hope tomorrow Mercedes won’t again with a 0,5s advantage out of nowhere.
Did Ferrari even run the soft tyre today?
Milansson (@milansson)
28th June 2019, 18:42
*come
hehe.. now I understand all the comments about the missing Edit button :)
Asanator (@asanator)
28th June 2019, 18:55
@milansson yes although Vettel spun on his Q lap and destroyed the tyres after aborting his prep lap for both red flags. LeClerc had to slow on his fast lap for yellow flags when Vettel spun but still went fastest. Vettel was faster than Chuck until he spun. Only Lec did a long run on the sorts.
Asanator (@asanator)
28th June 2019, 18:56
Softs
AliceD (@aliced)
29th June 2019, 12:14
Yes the good news is that Ferrari is still a little bit behind Mercedes
Edvaldo
28th June 2019, 18:45
So the upgrades made the car even faster in straights?
j3d89
28th June 2019, 19:37
no, more likely its helping them in the corners bit more than before while still being efficient on the straights
Panagiotis Papatheodorou (@panagiotism-papatheodorou)
28th June 2019, 18:56
I dream of 2019 being like 2009. Ferrari in this case being Red Bull, starts a charge against Mercedes (Brawn) for the title around mid-season. Yeah, wishful thinking I know but a man can hope.
Nonetheless, it is good to know that the car feels for for Seb. His race pace on hards was good given he was saving tyres and all as was Charles’ on softs.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
28th June 2019, 23:47
@panagiotism-papatheodorou – although, it must be said that a defining feature of that 2009 season was that apart from RBR mounting a challenge, Button also slept off at the wheel from his home GP onwards. To me it felt like he didn’t have the mental stamina to see his championship through, and it took him until the penultimate race to seal the deal (the car will still good, seeing as even Barrichello picked up two wins in Button’s lean period).
Barring any external reasons, I don’t see the Hamilton we have today going down that road. But yes, it would be cool if today’s young hopeful star can emulate Vettel’s trajectory from a decade ago.
Niefer (@niefer)
29th June 2019, 5:10
@panagiotism-papatheodorou and @phylyp — It would be bliss if it was to happen. However, given Hamilton and Vettel’s forms respectively, I’d relate’em to 1991 season instead: a dazzling Senna vs an erratic Mansell.
Funny thing though is regardless which season we relate to, it would mean Ferrari building the next dominant car, something I don’t see happening any time soon.
Niefer (@niefer)
29th June 2019, 5:13
edit: it would mean Ferrari paving the next dominant period.
___
Feels more right.
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine)
29th June 2019, 7:40
@panagiotism-papatheodorou
I must admit I thought the same. It’s not wildly beyond the boundaries of imagination, particularly if Mercedes’ blistering at Paul Ricard is a sign of things to come. There’s clearly not much wetting with the Ferrari motor either. But even if they do suddenly turn things around, they’ve squandered a lot of points already.
F1oSaurus (@)
29th June 2019, 13:12
@panagiotism-papatheodorou Indeed then Red Bull also had the car to mount a challenge from the first race. Slightly behind at the start perhaps, but Vettel then also mostly blundered a lot (crashed out in the first 2 races).
Third race Red Bull locked out the front row and took an easy win though. Vettel/Ferrari neglected to do that in Bahrain, Baku and Canada where they did have the upper hand.
Then Vettel crashed out in Monaco again and made a total hash of the Hungary race. So yeah, the 2009 season does have some similarity with Vettel under delivering the last few seasons.
t santang
28th June 2019, 22:00
lets hope it stays hot. merc is the better car but Ferrari troubles are 75% pirelli tire change 25 % car cornering ability.
they should be forced to revert to old spec tires. this season is a joke and already over. Why bother watching anymore.
Cant believe they let this happen.